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The federal government has asked a federal judge to crumble a deal to end a false labeling class action lawsuit against Lenny & Larry’s, the makers of high-protein cookies, saying the settlement is far too lopsided, as it leaves attorneys with more than $1 million and consumers with perhaps a few crumbs, should they be lucky enough to land a cut of $3 million worth of free cookies.

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Department of Justice's recent effort to toss lawsuits it says it wasted hundreds of hours investigating is emblematic of a strategy under President Donald Trump to rein in trial lawyers who are using a federal whistleblower law to seek millions of dollars.

A federal judge has ordered a children's psychiatric hospital in Chicago, where patients have allegedly been exposed to “rampant” abuse, should continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds while the facility gets the chance to argue the federal government did not give the hospital time to correct problems.

TEXARKANA – The U.S. Department of Justice is asking federal judges around the country to dismiss lawsuits it says are brought by shell companies that misrepresent their true purposes - filing meritless litigation against health care companies.

The vice president of an insurance underwriting group fraudulently obtained more than $13.5 million from a corporate client by fraudulently issuing and collecting premium payments on “matching deductible” policies, according to federal criminal charges filed today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

In the wake of the Trump administration's decision to stop drafting new regulations on the accessibility of "websites, furniture and non-fixed equipment," a labor and employment attorney says this area of law could remain open for a while, as the courts work through the questions in a patchwork of judicial decisions.

A federal judge has rejected a call for summary judgment that attempted to dismiss a case involving the death of a construction worker who fell from a second-story balcony that allegedly had been left unsecured.

A downstate federal judge has agreed to slightly modify an injunction against Dish Network, but refused to yield on her order the company pay $283 million in penalties for not keeping a better eye on its telemarketers, who allegedly violated consumer protection laws by making millions of unsolicited calls for Dish.

A Chicago federal judge has cleared federal lawyers to continue their housing discrimination lawsuit against the village of Tinley Park over the fate of a low-income housing development, saying the task of filing such lawsuits can be delegated to other lawyers within the Department of Justice if the office specifically authorized by federal law to oversee such enforcement actions is vacant.

As Tinley Park village officials await a federal judge’s ruling on whether a legal question could prevent the U.S. Justice Department from suing Village Hall for housing discrimination, the village’s ex-development director has asked a federal judge to simultaneously consider her request to dismiss a lawsuit Tinley Park brought against her for allegedly making faulty decisions that led the village to come under federal scrutiny and pay $2.45 million to settle claims brought by the would-be developers of a stalled controversial low-income housing project planned for Tinley’s downtown.

A Springfield federal judge has placed Dish Network on the hook for a fine of more than $280 million for alleged violations of federal telemarketing law, even though the violations were committed by third-party contractors. And other companies should take note of the judge's ruling, said a lawyer who specializes in defenses against similar legal actions.

The fate of a low-income housing development in Tinley Park could yet turn on the question of whether the President of the United States must appoint someone to serve as the overseer of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division for the Justice Department to legally file housing discrimination lawsuits.

A federal appeals panel in Chicago has upheld lower courts’ dismissal of several asbestos exposure lawsuits brought against door maker Weyerhaeuser Company and Owens-Illinois Inc., saying their dispute with Weyerhauser should be handled under Wisconsin’s workers compensation law, and their claims against Owens-Illinois don’t belong in court at all.

John L. Steele, an indicted Chicago lawyer who served as one of the principals at Prenda Law, has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his role in an alleged shakedown scheme allegedly designed to entrap and extract millions of dollars in settlements from those accused of illegally downloading internet porn.

Saying he believed the evidence could suggest the city of Des Plaines discriminated against a local Islamic congregation when it denied their request for a permit to build a new community center in one of the city’s business districts, a federal judge has decided to let the congregation and the city take their legal fight to trial.